Metasurface-Enabled Scanning Range Extension of a Phased Array Antenna

This paper presents an approach to enhance the scanning range of phased array antenna by employing a transmissive phase gradient metasurface within a wide band. The proposed metasurface allows the incident wave to pass through it with tailored transmitted fields, thus extending the scanning range of the original phased array. As a proof of concept, a metasurface-loaded phased array antenna is designed in the Ku band, of which the maximum scanning angel is increased from 45° to 71° within a bandwidth of 2 GHz. With these merits, the proposed method may facilitate the application of metasurfaces in wide-angle scanning antenna systems.